


Sandy Shores

by The_Fairy_Fox



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Drowning, Jack is captured, M/M, Please be nice, Psychological Torture, Sandy Shores, Sunburn, close to drowning, dailyr76, dailyreaper76, i'm sorry dad, jack has a bad time, post omnic crisis, this is for a fic contest, this is my first fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-04-07
Packaged: 2019-04-19 20:18:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14244969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Fairy_Fox/pseuds/The_Fairy_Fox
Summary: Ana receives information that Jack is missing, assuming Reaper has him she goes in search of her old friend only to find he also has no clue where the Soldier may be. Meanwhile Jack fights for his life in a sandy grave."Sandy shores" prompt for Dailyr76By the-imaginary-being.tumblr.com





	Sandy Shores

Jack wakes up damp, sweat, he presumes, until he notices the familiar sickening clench in his gut, a side effect of knock out bullets. Suddenly it comes back to him, he was on a mission, just him, he had received a personal message, a tip off about a gang they had been after since the omnic crisis ended. He had decided to go investigate, alone. That was a mistake. It had been an ambush and now he was… where was he? 

Jack looks about as best he can, eyes widening. His mouth was gagged, hands and legs bound, wrists pulled to his ankles behind him and he lay on his back in only his briefs in a deep grave of sand. Voices sank down to him. They were muffled by the accompanying sound of waves, crashing to the shore. Jack let out an urgent groan, screaming into the fabric which filled his mouth.

A face appeared, obscured by a scarf. It spoke.  
“Hey boss, the soldier’s awake.”  
Jack hears another muffled voice before the face peering down at him nods.  
“Gladly.”  
It disappears, and Jack screams a profanity into the gag. He thinks it works as the face reappears, though his hopes fade as a gun is pointed down at him.  
“Back to sleep Soldier boy.”

Darkness.  
_______________________________________________________________

The market outside of the temple buzzes with life. People weave in and out of each other buying and selling, chatting, going about their day. This city wasn’t as badly affected by the omnic crisis as others were and the statues of Anubis still stand tall and proud against the dry sun. Amongst the bustle of the crowd a shadow slips into an alleyway, watching with dark, patient eyes.

Reaper smiles beneath his mask as he spots the woman who should be dead. A ghost to anyone else but to him, an old friend. She turns. She sees him. She shoots. 

When Reaper awakens, Ana is stood over him, gun pointed at him once more. His body turns to smoke in defence though he stays where he is, frowning as he spots the deep anger set into Ana’s eyes.  
“Don’t you dare run you coward! Where they hell is Jack!”  
The ghosting of Reaper’s body stops, his voice gravel.  
“How should I know?”  
“Don’t play games with me Gabe, I found the note, I know you have him.”  
Reaper’s head tilts.  
“What note?”  
_______________________________________________________________

The sun glares down onto Jack. His lips are cracked from salt and heat, skin peeling in the midday light that shines into the pit. He groans and attempts to sit up causing sand to fall from the walls of the grave onto his partially clothed body. The wet sand below him shifts and sucks onto where the most of his weight lays. He looks down. The damp has now become a puddle of water. Jack tries to wriggle his arms out from behind him, to give him support to stand but it is hopeless. A defeated grunt leaves his sore body as he settles on his knees. The face reappears. 

“Hello Soldier boy, good nap?”  
Jack growls which only pulls a laugh from his captor. A second face peers into his grave, stood at the foot. She wears a white theatre mask, morphed into an over exaggerated smile. 

“Lie back down or I’ll have you put back to sleep.” Her voice is rich and alluring and Jack suddenly understands how she manages to get so many of the thugs he has faced to do her bidding. He glares up at her.

“Oh Jack, you won’t be able to escape, this grave is designed so that it will only cave in if you knock the sides. However, if you lie down like a good boy you’ll have exactly…” She looks ahead of her then to her watch and hums, eyes drifting back to the defeated Jack. “Three hours and thirty five minutes to contemplate the life you’ve had.”

She gestures to the other peering face and he leaves. “I’m afraid I will be leaving you in the good hands of my associate now Jack, shame really, I would have loved to stay and watch you suffocate.” 

Jack shouts into the gag, anger fuelling him as he shoulder barges the side of the grave, more sand caving in on him. The woman laughs, “I did warn you Jack, behave.”

“Ready to go boss?” The woman looks to the voice, raising her hand. 

“Head over to the jeep, I’ll be there in a moment.” Jack stares at the crumbling wall in front of him, he sighs and shakes his head, laying back down into the slowly raising salt water. “Oh, there’s a good boy, stay there now, good job everyone thinks you’re dead isn’t it? No need to look for your body then.” She laughs, kicking another lot of hot, dry sand into Jack’s face and turning away. A moment later Jack hears a car door closing and the rumble of the engine fading away as the red dot of a sniper’s gun steadily moves to the rim of the grave.  
_______________________________________________________________

The reaper holds the note, expression obscured by his mask. He trails a talon over the words. “Soldier boy… I thought only we called him that…”

Ana sighs, looking away, “that’s why I assumed you had him.” They sit in silence, the hustle and bustle of the market leaking into their hidden spot until Ana reaches out her hand to rest on Reaper’s shoulder. “I’m sorry for suspecting you Gabe” he winces as he hears his old name, instantly ghosting and moving to stand behind her.  
“I can find him.”  
“What?”  
“Ana, I can find him, but I have to do it alone.”

She shakes her head, turning to the masked figure. “You will not go alone, we rescue him together, you tried to kill him before Gabe – “  
“No!... I didn’t…” The ghost sighs. “When I shot Jack in the back I wasn’t trying to kill him, just make it look like that. I knew someone would be there to save him… I’d had a bullet developed to release organic, microscopic tracking agents into his bloodstream… It was so we could keep an eye on him, know his movements…”

She doesn’t interrupt as she listens, trying to read the truth through Reaper’s voice.  
“We go together, you may not need me but he does.”

They stare each other down for a few agonizing moments. Until Reaper finally speaks.

“Fine, let’s save our soldier boy.”  
_______________________________________________________________

It’s deathly hot. Jack manages to shift back a bit, resting his shoulders against the coarse wall. He is fighting with his mind now, struggling to stay conscious, throat rasping with every breath as dehydration tears into him. He can hear the waves getting closer, at least the water that’s coming up through the sand is cool, even so, it’s too much. He doesn’t want to give up but he can’t think of a way to stay awake let alone alive. Glancing up to the sky he notices a large bird circling, then a second, then a third. Vultures. He supposes that’s it, if he’s really this close to death nothing will stop its grasp. 

Jack jumps awake. He’s unsure how long he has been out and confused to what has woken him until he feels it again. Water splashes down into the hole, soaking his head. For a moment he revels in the cold moisture, welcoming it. It takes all his strength not to drink it, knowing it will only make things worse. Another wave flows into the hole, wet sand pouring into it also and suddenly the soldier fully understands how he is going to die. No, not yet, he thinks, he can’t give up. More water and sand fall in as he shifts around until he’s on his knees. 

It isn’t long until the water has risen to his chest, burying him alive. The sand below him sucks at his body and he quickly discovers that any struggle will cause the sand to shift and his body to sink. He’s so focussed on not drowning that he doesn’t notice the shout and scream of the sniper, or the red dot vanishing from the sand above him. Another large wave pours into the hole and that’s it. He is submerged. 

Jack uses the last of his strength to hold his breath until his lungs are burning, he feels another wave beat down into the hole then a warm feeling coating his entire body. So this is what death feels like? The warmth increases, like a strong embrace. Jack notices his skin starting to feel less tight, his throat less dry. Jack notices that he is noticing things! He can focus!

He opens his eyes but is forced to close them in an instant from the sand. Cold arms wrap around him and he suddenly feels like every particle in his body is ripping itself apart. 

Reaper has never tried to shadow step with another person. He knows it’s dangerous, where his body is designed for it the average human is not. But Jack is special, he knows that, he trained with him. Only another moment of this agony then Ana can heal him. He fades into existence, cradling his soldier in his arms as Ana runs over, stabbing Jack with a serum of insta-heal. 

Jack’s eyes flicker open. His gag is pulled off and bounds untied. A deep throaty laugh escapes him as he stares into the masked face of the man he once loved. Slowly Jack raises his hand and touches the mask, the reaper doesn’t object so he gently removes it. The soldier smiles, “Hello beautiful, fancy seeing you here.” Gabe shakes his head at his former lover, a cracking chuckle forming in his throat. “Jack. My Jack. Let’s get you home.”  
_______________________________________________________________

A few days after his ordeal the three old friends stand by the sea shore. Jack and Ana have a ferry to catch and despite all his begging and negotiating Jack is unable to convince the reaper to come with them. Ana shakes Gabe’s taloned hand. “Be good old man, don’t force us to kill you.” She smiles softly, touching Jack gently on the shoulder as she leaves. “Ten minutes Jack, make them count.”

Jack take’s Gabe’s hand, turning to face him. “Remove the mask, just for now, it’s just for me, please.” The mask stares at him, contemplating the outcome of this action. He removes it. Jack smiles. The soldier reaches up and caresses the reaper’s face, it’s loving and unafraid, a foreign feeling to Gabe. He revels in it, holding Jack’s hand there and humming as he presses his cold, smoky face to Jack’s warm touch.  
“Ana told me about the tracking in my bloodstream, I’ll be having that removed.”  
Gabe smirks, “I don’t blame you, I would too… though don’t get yourself into any trouble again, I won’t be able to find you.”

Jack sighs, looking out over the wide expanse of sea before them. “Thank you, you didn’t have to hel-“  
“Jack”, Gabe interrupts, “of course I did, I love you. We may not see eye to eye anymore but, I still love you, I always will.”  
The soldier turns to him, smiling sadly. “Yeah, I love you too old man.”  
A booming laugh erupts from Gabe, “Who are you calling old? You seen yourself lately soldier boy?”  
They laugh together, until Jack touches a device in his ear. “Ana says it’s time… so… thank you, again.” He holds out his hand to shake but to his surprise Reaper shakes his head. Before Jack can protest Gabe leans in, cupping his lover’s chin and kissing him deeply. When they break the kiss Jack’s cheeks have heated by a few shades. Gabe chuckles, “forever the shy one huh babe. Stay safe soldier boy.” He ghosts before Jack can kiss him a second time, the soldier’s hands falling through cold air as the smoky shape of his lover fades away. 

Smiling, he salutes to the air. “Love you Gabe. Be good.” Jack giggles like a naughty child as he rushes to the dock, Ana shouting in his ear to hurry or he’ll miss the ferry. He hasn’t been this giddy in years and he pulls his friend into a strong hug when he reaches her. He knows there will be conflict ahead of him, more close calls, but for now, he allows himself to be happy.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry to the Dailyreaper76 fic contest from tumblr for the prompt of 'Sandy Shores', if you haven't seen their blog then check it out! It has loads of brilliant art and fics etc as well as an amazing Reaper76 comic zine!


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